#christian piekos

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Discover the Miracles of the Keeper Program in Lotus Land #1

Discover the Miracles of the Keeper Program in Lotus Land #1 #comics #comicbooks

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MINOR THREATS CHRISTIAN WARD FOC VARIANT ANNOUNCED!

MINOR THREATS CHRISTIAN WARD FOC VARIANT ANNOUNCED!

From Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum, the showrunners behind the hit Hulu series Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K., comes their first creator-owned series Minor Threats. Featuring superstar artist Scott Hepburn (M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games), with colors by Ian Herring, and letters by Nate Piekos, Minor Threats is a genre-bending crime drama about superheroes and villains and the last gasp of the colorful…

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It’s essential to remember that these colors come from Laura Allred.

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 22 July 2019

Quick Bits:

A Walk Through Hell #12 concludes what has been an excellent horror tale from Garth Ennis, Goran Sudžuka, Ive Svorcina, and Rob Steen with another trip into existential terror as we’re given a glimpse of what this is all about and what’s coming.

| Published by AfterShock

Action Comics #1013 keeps a lot of plates spinning as it works through elements of “Year of the Villain”, Event Leviathan, the ongoing Invisible Mafia story thread, and the Rose and Thorn revival. It’s kind of impressive as to how it remains entertaining and engrossing with as much going on.

| Published by DC Comics

Age of Conan: Bêlit #5 is another ending this week, as we finish off Bêlit’s coming of age origin story, as she confronts the Stygian priest and lays claim to her title of Queen of the Black Coast. Great art from Kate Niemczyk, Scott Hanna, Andrea Di Vito, and Jason Keith.

| Published by Marvel

Amazing Spider-Man #26 introduces us to the new Sinister Syndicate fully as they plan an attack on Boomerang. It’s kind of funny to see him still getting into trouble even now that he’s trying to stay legit. Great art from Kev Walker and Laura Martin.

| Published by Marvel

Ascender #4 gives us a few surprises in the fight between the vampires and the resistance. The grey washes, with mixes of red, from Dustin Nguyen on the vampire’s throneworld is very impressive.

| Published by Image

Batgirl #37 launches the new creative team of Cecil Castellucci, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Jordie Bellaire, and AndWorld Design with part one of “Oracle Rising”. There’s a nice battle with Killer Moth, emphasizing what some villains are doing in order to try to get noticed by Luthor to receive the offer, while playing up the expense that goes into crimefighting. Also, the Terrible Trio unleash something probably not too good.

| Published by DC Comics

Dark Red #5 concludes the first arc as Chip and Evie try to fight off an army of Nazi vampires. It’s good, with some nice funny moments. Great art from Corin Howell and Mark Englert.

| Published by AfterShock

Detective Comics #1008 is a straight-forward single issue story of Batman and Joker at the circus from Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Jaime Mendoza, Dave Baron, and Rob Leigh. It’s a refreshing change of pace from the extended arcs, even as it sets up a new threat in the “Year of the Villain” offering.

| Published by DC Comics

Dial H for Hero #5 gets a little meta as we dive into the Multiverse, the Heroverse, and the Bleed from Sam Humphries, Joe Quinones, Scott Hanna, Jordan Gibson, and Dave Sharpe. The use of breaking through panels, reproductions of old comics scenes, and a variation of styles just deliver phenomenal storytelling.

| Published by DC Comics / Wonder Comics

Dungeons & Dragons: A Darkened Wish #2 continues to fill in the backstory of the adventurers’ time with the White Sails, introducing us to the pitfalls that harried them, before giving more hints in the present of the nightmare that tore them apart. B. Dave Walters, Tess Fowler, Jay Fotos, and Neil Uyetake are delivering an entertaining fantasy tale here.

| Published by IDW

Fearless #1 is a new three-issue anthology mini-series spotlighting a number of the women of Marvel, both characters and creative talent. This first issue leads off with a continuing lead feature from Seanan McGuire, Claire Roe, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Janice Chiang, as Sue Richards, Carol Danvers, and Storm prepare to visit a girls camp as motivational speakers. There’s also an entertaining Mille the Model back-up from Leah Williams, Nina Vakueva, Rosenberg, and Chiang. And a very funny Jessica Jones story from the Captain Marvel team of Kelly Thompson, Carmen Carnero, Tamra Bonvillain, with Chiang. Though short, that last story is pretty much worth the price of the issue alone.

| Published by Marvel

Five Years #3 sees Tambi meet with Ivy and Julie to discuss that various nations around the world are dangerously developing Phi-alloy technology. Also a surprise appearance of people we thought were out. Great art as always from Terry Moore.

| Published by Abstract Studio

The Flash #75 delivers three stories for this extra-sized anniversary issue. The lead concludes the “Year One” arc. This is some of the best art that I have ever seen from Howard Porter, he and Hi-Fi just deliver amazing artwork here. There are also two back-ups, one hinting at things to come in the future for Barry and the other tying in to “Year of the Villain” as Captain Cold receives Luthor’s offer.

| Published by DC Comics

Guardians of the Galaxy #7 begins the second arc, “Faithless”, from Donny Cates, Cory Smith, David Curiel, and Cory Petit. It really introduces us to the new Universal Church of Truth as they take out an entire squadron of the Nova Corps and then worse things happen as the Guardians go off to investigate. I love the name for the Guardians’ new ship and that final page is one hell of a shock.

| Published by Marvel

History of the Marvel Universe #1 is an interesting project from Mark Waid, Javier Rodríguez, Álvaro López, and Joe Caramagna. It’s framed as Galactus telling Franklin Richards (at least I think that’s Franklin Richards) the history of the universe before it dies and the next is reborn. As expected, it’s dry facts, but it’s fascinating in how it’s comprehensively presented and the artwork from Rodríguez and López is jaw-dropping gorgeous. There are also annotations in the back to show where these events come from. It’s well put together and I highly recommended it to die-hard Marvel fans.

| Published by Marvel

Invisible Kingdom #5 concludes the first arc with an almost entirely one-sided battle between the Sun Dog and a Lux battleship. G. Willow Wilson, Christian Ward, and Sal Cipriano elevate the tension nicely through this issue and give a few surprises when everything seems grim and it looks like the end.

| Published by Dark Horse / Berger Books

Killer Groove #3 wonderfully showcases one of Jackie’s cases as it intertwines with the music scene and criminal underworld. Ollie Masters, Eoin Marron, Jordie Bellaire, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou are doing a nice job with this series of crafting one larger story out of many separate smaller tales.

| Published by AfterShock

Lazarus: Risen #2 is another dense read. The series has always been hefty, but this new format has elevated things further, doubling up comics content and adding a prose short story, the letters pages, and extra content like gaming material and the usual in-world advertisements. I’m loving it. Greg Rucka, Michael Lark, Tyler Boss, Santi Arcas, Simon Bowland, Adam Christopher, and Crystal Frasier are definitely giving you your money’s worth and more here. Excellent comics content as the war between Carlyle and Morray/D’Souza heats up.

| Published by Image

Livewire #8 pits Amanda versus Jada for a final round. It’s still interesting how practically everyone is trying to portray Amanda’s actions as harmful and villainous. Great art from Kano.

| Published by Valiant

Martian Manhunter #7 sees J’onn and Diane uncover some of the results of the experiments that have been going on with the kidnapped and missing people, it’s horrifying. Incredible and haunting artwork in this one from Riley Rossmo and Ivan Plascencia. 

| Published by DC Comics

Marvels: Epilogue is a short, but sweet, coda to the Marvels series from Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross, John Roshell, and Richard Starkings. It spotlights events from X-Men #98 through the eyes of Phil Sheldon and his daughters, capturing some of the awe, wonder, and terror that Sheldon experienced during the main series. The book is filled out with an interview with Busiek and Ross on their experience with the series and what it’s like to look back on it 25 years later, as well as interviews with the editors who worked on the book.

| Published by Marvel

Middlewest #9 sets out a new quest for Abel as he comes across the Nowak people. Skottie Young, Jorge Corona, Jean-Francois Beaulieu, and Nate Piekos are continuing to make magic with this series. The art is beautiful and the story is endlessly captivating.

| Published by Image

Psi-Lords #2 continues to investigate these four captives, changed for whatever reason by the Psi-Lords, and the habitat of their prison. An interesting jail hierarchy of gangs is revealed and a bit of a memory of the four’s lives before being captured. Gorgeous art from Renato Guedes.

| Published by Valiant

Star Pig #1 is weird. Very weird. Delilah S. Dawson, Francesco Gaston, Sebastian Cheng, and Shawn Lee give us the story of a kid on her way to space camp whose ship is struck and destroyed by an asteroid, saved by a space pig and a scavenger energy ball. It’s probably one of the more unique tales I’ve seen in a while.

| Published by IDW

Sword Master #1, like Aero before it, features two stories. In the first, Greg Pak adapts into English a tale from Shuizhu and Gunji of the titular hero, Lin Lie, and his quest to find his missing father. It’s an interesting start and the artwork from Gunji is gorgeous. The back up original story pairs Shang-Chi up with Lin in a story from Greg Pak, Ario Anindito, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Travis Lanham. It follows up on their appearance in the New Agents of Atlas tie-in to “War of the Realms” and presents an interesting antagonist on their trail.

| Published by Marvel

Valkyrie #1 is a wonderful debut from Jason Aaron, Al Ewing, CAFU, Jesus Aburtov, and Joe Sabino. We get some continued supporting cast from Jane Foster’s time as Thor, although with a new status quo, and an interesting hook in trying to track down Dragonfang, the former Valkyrie’s sword. The art from CAFU and Aburtov is beautiful.

| Published by Marvel

Warlord of Mars Attacks #2 continues this crossover of John Carter and Mars Attacks. It’s interesting how it incorporates Edgar Rice Burroughs’ stories as actual things in this world and explains how Mars as a dead planet and one as teeming with life as Barsoom could exist simultaneously.

| Published by Dynamite

The Weatherman Vol. 2 #2 gives us more of a look at the nightmare that has consumed Earth as the crew attempt to find the doctor who might be able to fix everything. It goes about as well as could be expected. The monster designs and execution from Nathan Fox and Moreno Dinisio are incredible.

| Published by Image

Web of Venom: Funeral Pyre #1 is another one-shot catching up on the wider world of Venom as we barrel headlong into Absolute Carnage. Cullen Bunn, Joshua Cassara, Alberto Alburquerque, Jay David Ramos, and Clayton Cowles give us a great story checking in with Andi Benton, the former Mania and occasional sidekick to Flash Thompson’s Venom.

| Published by Marvel

Wonder Woman #75 continues “Return of the Amazons” from G. Willow Wilson, Xermanico, Jesus Merino, Vicente Cifuentes, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Pat Brosseau. This arc basically brings Wilson’s run around full circle to deal with some of the elements that kicked off her first issue as Diana faces off against Grail. Some really nice double page spreads with border art from Xermanico.

| Published by DC Comics

Other Highlights: Archie #706, Archie vs. Predator 2 #1, Bone Parish #11, Books of Magic #10, Clue: Candlestick #3, Curse Words #23, Doctor Strange #16, Farmhand #10, Freedom Fighters #7, Grumble #8, House of X #1, Justice League Dark #13, Lumberjanes #64, Magic: The Gathering - Chandra #3, Magnificent Ms. Marvel #5, Marvel Action: Avengers #6, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #41, Night Moves #5, Redneck #22, Secret Warps: Arachknight Annual #1, Shuri #10, Star Trek: The Q Conflict #6, Star Wars #69, TMNT: The Rise of the TMNT - Sound Off #1, Tony Stark: Iron Man #14, The Wicked + The Divine #44

Recommended Collections: Black Panther - Book 7: The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda Part 2, Go-Bots - Volume 1, Harrow County: Library Edition - Volume 3, House of Whispers - Volume 1: The Power Divided, James Bond: Origin - Volume 1, Lodger - Volume 1, Lumberjanes - Volume 12, Savage Sword of Conan - Volume 1: The Cult of Koga Thun, Self/Made, Star Wars Adventures - Volume 6: The Flight of the Falcon, Thor of Realms, William Gibson’s Alien 3

d. emerson eddy might well be a space lord.

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Set in the world of the Eisner Award-winning Black Hammer series–but a thousand years in the future–a collection of superheroes, inspired by the legendary heroes of Black Hammer Farm, must band together to save the planet from an authoritarian regime. A young Martian must find a way to reform The Quantum League to save the world while solving the riddle of what happened to the great heroes of the twentieth century.

Black Hammer creator Jeff Lemire (The Terrifics) is joined by Wilfredo Torres (Legion) in illustrating while Dave Stewart (Hellboy) adds his colorist skills to the mix.

* Based on Jeff Lemire’s Eisner Award-winning series!

Writer: Jeff Lemire Artist, Cover Artist: Wilfredo Torres Colorist: Dave Stewart Letterer: Nate Piekos Variant Cover: Christian Ward Publication Date: July 04, 2018

PREVIEW: Quantum Age: From the World of Black Hammer #1 Set in the world of the Eisner Award-winning Black Hammer series--but a thousand years in the future--a collection of superheroes, inspired by the legendary heroes of Black Hammer Farm, must band together to save the planet from an authoritarian regime.

[downthetubes]

Dark Horse’s New Series Journeys Into “The Quantum Age”

Dark Horse’s New Series Journeys Into “The Quantum Age”

Dark Horse has announced the next adventure in Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston’s beloved Black Hammer universe, The Quantum Age: From the World of Black Hammer. The Quantum Age follows Sherlock Frankenstein & The Legion of Evil and Doctor Star & The Kingdom of Lost Tomorrows as the latest installment in the greater Black Hammer universe. Moon Knight artist Wilfredo Torres joins Black Hammer…

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off the rack #1288

Monday, November 18, 2019

 Winter arrived early this year and is here to stay. I started a project yesterday going through our photo albums and labelling them to help when we want to look for a particular picture. I ended up scanning a bunch to send to friends and family to share in a bit of nostalgia. It was fun going down memory lane.

 The Immortal Hulk #26 - Al Ewing (writer) Joe Bennett (pencils) Ruy Jose (inks) Paul Mounts (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). So Bruce/Hulk has commandeered a Shadow Base site and has declared that he and his supporters are going to change the world. He spends a lot of time arguing with one potential ally while another ally listens in. Meanwhile the media paints Bruce as a terrorist and the far right go on the attack. I have an interest in current world affairs and this book reflects what is happening right now, which makes for a very interesting read. The Hulk isn't going to rampage willy nilly but has a specific target in mind.

 Guardians of the Galaxy #11 - Donny Cates (writer) Cory Smith (pencils) Victor Olazaba (inks) David Curiel (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This is a very quick read since it is mostly good guys fighting bad guys and setting up next issue's conclusion where someone saves the day.

 Detective Comics #1015 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Doug Mahnke & Jose Luis (pencils) Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne, Mark Irwin & Matt Santorelli (inks) David Baron (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Mister Freeze successfully resurrects his wife Nora and then throws her into the deep end of crime. I can't blame her for going off the deep end and kicking Victor to the curb. Meanwhile, Batman, Lucius and Alfred race to find a cure for the innocent victims that got frozen. Will Mister Freeze help? The art in this issue really stood out.

 Event Leviathan #6 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Alex Maleev (art) Josh Reed (letters). The identity of Leviathan is revealed and it's no one that I know. You're going to have to Google Mark Shaw to learn more. I care more about what he and his minions are going to do next.

 Runaways #27 - Rainbow Rowell (writer) Kris Anka (pencils) Kris Anka & Walden Wong (inks) Dee Cunniffe & Jim Campbell (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). The kids don costumes and head out to fight crime with Doc Justice. Cosplayers are happy.

 Punisher Soviet #1 - Garth Ennis (writer) Jacen Burrows (pencils) Guillermo Ortego (inks) Nolan Woodard (colours) Rob Steen (letters). Punisher fans rejoice. This is a top notch team telling a two-fisted tale of Frank versus the Russian mob. Throw in a copycat crime fighter and I'm hooked for the rest of this 6-issue mini. Welcome back Garth.

 Elfquest Stargazer's Hunt #1 - Wendy and Richard Pini (story) Sonny Strait (art) Nate Piekos (letters). The more things change, the more Elfquest stays the same. I recognised these elves immediately and decided to see what's up with them since I was really into Cutter and Skywise from the very beginning going back forty years. We catch up with Skywise in this new story. He's got a young daughter now and lives in a peaceful fairy land called Starhome. If you like pure fantasy you should give this a try

 Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy #3 - Jody Houser (writer) Adriana Melo (pencils) Mark Morales (inks) Hi-Fi (colours) Gabriela Downie (letters). The girls going to the Mad Hatter for help wasn't a good idea. Jervis almost manages to control them for his own nefarious purposes. Now they're on the road again to who knows where. I'm hitching along.

 Black Cat Annual #1 - Jed MacKay (writer) Joey Vazquez (art: Felicia & Peter) Natacha Bustos (art: Bruno) Juan Gedeon (art: Dr. Korpse) Brian Reber (colours) Ferran Delgado (letters). This is three separate capers rolled into one big heist. Spider-Man and the Black Cat get married in order to facilitate the robbery. I liked how everything interconnected and how Peter was conned into helping. This is one annual worth picking up.

 Catwoman #17 - Joelle Jones (story & art) Laura Allred (colours) Saida Temofonte (letters). Oh man, am I ever glad I didn't bench this book when Joelle went on hiatus. When she writes and draws a book the product is far superior than most. From the cover to the very last page this issue gave me shivers. We're resuming Selina's battle with the crazy Creel woman and Catwoman is going to have a little help from a friend. I can't wait to read the next issue.

 Fallen Angels #1 - Bryan Hill (writer) Szymon Kudranski (art) Frank D'Armata (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). The four pages before the credits page absolutely captivated me and then the rest of the issue grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and didn't let go. I was wondering what the heck happened to Psylocke (real name Kwannon) after reading Excalibur #1 and here we have answers. She's leading a new team of mutants going after a very deadly villain by the name of Apoth. So far she's recruited Laura/X-23 and young Nathan/Cable. This title gets added to my "must read" list.

 Far Sector #1 - N. K. Jemisin (writer) Jamal Campbell (art) Deron Bennett (letters). This new comic by the award winning science fiction and fantasy author introduces us to Green Lantern Mullein. She's investigating a murder in a city where three alien races co-existed peacefully until now. It's the first murder in 5 centuries in a city with 20 billion citizens. This book lost me right there with that unbelievable stat. The art is absolutely gorgeous but a rookie Green Lantern dealing with this crime is too far-fetched for me. If this were a regular detective in a regular city I might have continued reading. I just don't buy a green Green Lantern in an idyllic world.

 The Dollhouse Family #1 - M. R. Carey (writer) Peter Gross (layouts) Vince Locke (finishes) Cris Peter (colours) Todd Klein (letters). This is one creepy comic book about a 19th Century dollhouse bequeathed to a little girl in England in the early eighties. There's magic involved when the girl can shrink and play with the dolls in the house. There's the mystery of where the dollhouse comes from. The creepy part is the Black Room in the house. This issue starts with a crash landing and ends with the punishment of an abusive husband. I am very intrigued.

 Morbius #1 - Vita Ayala (writer) Marcelo Ferreira (pencils) Roberto Poggi (inks) Dono Sanchez-Almara (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Michael the living vampire is back on the racks and he's still trying to cure himself of his bloodlust. This starts off with a dumb costumed mad scientist villain followed by Morbius attacking the bad guy's henchmen all to abscond with the experimental serum that might cure him. They never establish what the bad guy's serum was going to do, which made the effect on Morbius predictable at the end of this issue. The only thing that might get me to read more is the hot blonde vampire hunter who shows up and the art in this was superb.

 X-Men #2 - Jonathan Hickman (writer) Leinil Francis Yu (pencils) Gerry Alanguilan (inks) Sunny Gho (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Boy, Jonathan Hickman isn't coasting with these mutants. First (spoiler alert) he kills off a major character and now he's adding even more intrigue with a mating of Krakoa and another island. All mutants, good and not so good, were brought together on Krakoa but I always wondered when the not so good ones would start to do not so good things. Apocalypse steps to the fore here. I liked how Cyclops and his kids behaved during their mission to explore the new island.

 The Batman's Grave #2 - Warren Ellis (writer) Bryan Hitch (art) Alex Sinclair (colours) Richard Starkings (letters). The art does most of the heavy lifting with nary a caption or word balloon in the first 12 pages. Bryan's pages looked great. Warren then weighs in with a summons for Batman from Commissioner Gordon using the Bat signal. A crooked lawyer has been murdered. I like when Batman plays detective.

 Future Foundation #4 - Jeremy Whitley (writer) Alti Firmansyah (art) Triona Farrell (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Can the kids keep evil Reed from getting a piece of the Miracle Man? Looks like it. But wait, there's more. Next issue's conclusion to this story should be just as exciting as this one.

 Joker: Killer Smile #1 - Jeff Lemire (writer) Andrea Sorrentino (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Steve Wands (letters). I'm always willing to try a new book when I see Jeff Lemire's name in the credits because he usually manages to entertain me. I'm not a big fan of the clown prince of crime especially after the Joker became darker and started to kill people. This is the story of Doctor Ben Arnell, a psychologist trying to cure the Joker after the killer's most recent incarceration in Arkham Asylum. It's a story of mind games where a good man finds himself succumbing to the influence of evil. This is another good DC Black Label book worth reading.

[rabbittstewcomics]

Episode 197

Doomsday Clock, Superman: Leviathan Rising Special, Heroes in Crisis, Batman: Last Knight on Earth, Dog Days of Summer, Catwoman Annual, Detective Annual, DC Super Hero Girls: Spaced Out,  Star Wars 108, X-Men Grand Design: Extinction, Hunted conclusion, Stranger Things: Six, Pros + Comic Cons, Angel, Killer Groove, Lumberjanes: Somewhere That’s Green Special, Wailing Blade, Sham, She Said Destroy

  Reviews: Kimmy Schmidt s3, Gravity Falls, Velvet Buzzsaw, Godzilla: King of the Monsters

  News: Tom King involved in New Gods movie, Black Label and DC Ink updates, Russos animated Magic: The Gathering show on Netflix, David Morrissey is Norman Osborn?

  Trailers: Swamp Thing, Death Stranding, Onward, The Kitchen

  Comics Details:

Superman: Leviathan Rising Special by Brian Michael Bendis, Marc Andreyko, Matt Fraction, Greg Rucka, Steve Lieber, Eduardo Pansica, Yanick Paquette, Mike Perkins, Julio Ferreira, Nathan Fairbairn, Paul Mounts, Fco Plascencia

Batman: Last Knight on Earth 1 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, Fco Plascencia

Dog Days of Summer by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Cully Hamner, Dave McCaig, Joshua Williamson, Kyle Hotz, David Baron, G. Willow Wilson, Stjepan Sejic, Andrew Milano, James Harren, Dave Stewart, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Christian Duce Fernandez, Luis Guerrero, Kenny Porter, Paul Fry, Mick Gray, Ivan Plascencia, Dan DiDio, Tom Raney, Hi-Fi, Mariko Tamaki, Cian Tormey, John Kalisz

Catwoman Annual 1 by Joelle Jones, Elena Casagrande, Scott Godlewski, Hugo Petrus, Le Beau Underwood, Jordie Bellaire

Detective Annual 2 by Peter Tomasi, Travis Moore, Max Raynor, Tamra Bonvillain, Nick Filardi

DC Super Hero Girls: Spaced Out by Shea Fontana, Agnes Garbowska, Silvana Brys

Star Wars 108 by Matt Rosenberg, Chris Sotomayor, Andrea Broccardo, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Cam Smith, Kerry Gammill, Ze Carlos, Jan Duursema, Stefano Landini, Luke Ross, Leonard Kirk

Stranger Things: Six 1 by Jody Houser, Edgar Salazar, Keith Champagne, Triona Farrell, Nate Piekos

Angel 1 by Bryan Edward Hill, Gleb Melnikov, Gabriel Cassata

Killer Groove 1 by Ollie Masters, Eoin Marron, Jordie Bellaire

Lumberjanes Somewhere That’s Green by

Wailing Blade 1 by Douek, Mulvey, Sotomayor, Esposito

Sham Comics 1 by

She Said Destroy 1 by Joe Corallo, Liana Kangas

  Comics Countdown:

Batman: Last Knight on Earth 1 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, Fco Plascencia

Doomsday Clock 10 by Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, Brad Anderson

Black Science 40 by Rick Remender, Matteo Scalera, Moreno DiNisio

Ascender 2 by Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen

Thor 13 by Jason Aaron, Mike del Mundo

Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt 5 by Kieron Gillen, Caspar Wijngaard, Mary Safro

TMNT 94 by Bobby Curnow, Tom Waltz, Kevin Eastman, Dave Wachter, Ronda Pattison

Immortal Hulk 18 by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy Jose, Paul Mounts

Superman: Leviathan Rising Special by Brian Michael Bendis, Marc Andreyko, Matt Fraction, Greg Rucka, Steve Lieber, Eduardo Pansica, Yanick Paquette, Mike Perkins, Julio Ferreira, Nathan Fairbairn, Paul Mounts, Fco Plascencia

Dark Red 3 by Tim Seeley, Corin Howell, Mark Englert

  Check out this episode!

[itrendingnews]

Louisiana officer slain as she left for work

Police in Shreveport, Louisiana, are investigating after one of their own officers, Chateri Payne, was gunned down outside a home Wednesday night as she left to start her night shift. Payne graduated from the police academy in November. CBS affiliate KSLA-TV's Christian Piekos reports. from Home - CBSNews.com https://cbsn.ws/2VG6wxY via Blogger http://bit.ly/2QDUJMJ

[gerardwayisarchive]

Gerard Way's third Umbrella Academy comic is coming this fall

https://gerardwayisalive.tumblr.com/post/175749988969

https://ew.com/books/2018/07/10/gerard-way-third-umbrella-academy-comic-release-date/

CHRISTIAN HOLUB  July 10, 2018 at 12:00 PM EDT

Gerard Way’s comic The Umbrella Academy will soon be getting a Netflix adaptation featuring Mary J. Blige. But that’s not the only good news for fans of the surreal superhero comic co-created by the My Chemical Romance frontman and artist Gabriel Bá have to look forward to. EW can exclusively announce that the third Umbrella Academy miniseries, titled Hotel Oblivion, is finally coming out from publisher Dark Horse this fall.

Like a cross between The Royal Tenenbaums and the X-Men, The Umbrella Academy follows a group of former child superheroes, originally brought together by their adopted father Sir Reginald Hargreeves to save the world from such menaces as a zombie robot version of Gustave Eiffel and a living, rampaging Lincoln Memorial statue. In the wake of Hargreeves’ death, the team splintered, and things have only gotten more divisive by the time of Hotel Oblivion. The last time we saw the team, at the end of the 2008 miniseries Dallas, they had not only failed to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy, they had actively facilitated it. Even if that decision was made to save the world from nuclear annihilation, it certainly took its toll on the team.

By the time Hotel Oblivion opens, they’re more divided than ever. The gorilla-bodied Spaceboy is lumbering around Tokyo, while his former flame Rumor copes with the wreckage of her first marriage. Kraken is once again on a mission of his own, while Number Five (that enigmatic time traveler stuck in a child’s body) works as a hired gun. Vanya, who almost destroyed the world as the White Violin, is still coping from her wounds (she was mostly catatonic throughout Dallas). Apparently, their insufferable brother Seance (who can talk to dead people and once came back from death himself because not even God or the devil wanted him around) doesn’t even show up until the second issue.

The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion reunites the creative team from the first two series, with Way writing and co-creator Bá drawing. Nick Filardi will provide colors while Nate Piekos handles lettering. The series will be seven issues long, the first of which is set to hit stores on Oct. 3. Check out an exclusive preview below, featuring a look at Number Five’s hitman work and Spaceboy’s Tokyo adventures.

[graphicpolicy]

Summer Burns in the first look at The Seasons Have Teeth #2

Summer Burns in the first look at The Seasons Have Teeth #2. Summer, the most chaotic and destructive of all seasons, creates a flood of refugees and international tensions #comics #comicbooks

[graphicpolicy]

Check out Christian Ward's sizzling variant cover for The Seasons Have Teeth #2

Check out Christian Ward's sizzling variant cover for The Seasons Have Teeth #2 #comics #comicbooks

BOOM! Studios revealed legendary artist Christian Ward’s variant cover of The Seasons Have Teeth #2, the next issue of a brand new 4-issue horror series from writer Dan Watters, artist Sebastián Cabrol, colorist Dan Jackson, and letterer Nate Piekos of Blambot, coming to a comic shop near you this May 17th. Summer, the most chaotic and destructive of all seasons, creates a flood of refugees and…

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 12 August 2019

Quick Bits:

Absolute Carnage: Scream #1 begins a three-issue tie-in to the larger “Absolute Carnage” event, from Cullen Bunn, Gerardo Sandoval, Victor Nava, Erick Arciniega, and Cory Petit. It spotlights a trio of former symbiote hosts, including the titular Scream herself, who was dead. It’s interesting to see the length that Carnage’s influence can have as he tries to prepare the world for Knull.

| Published by Marvel

Absolute Carnage: Separation Anxiety #1 is a one-shot dealing with the other four symbiotes that resulted from the same experiment as Scream from Clay McLeod Chapman, Brian Level, Jordan Boyd, and Travis Lanham. Regardless of whether or not you’re reading the broader event, or know anything about the symbiotes’ history, this is a damn good horror story. It focuses on a family going through the nightmares of a separation and what happens when another horror is brought in from outside. The artwork from Level and Boyd is perfect and terrifying.

| Published by Marvel

Age of Conan: Valeria #1 begins the next Age of Conan mini-series focusing on the wider world of characters in Conan’s canon, from Meredith Finch, Aneke, Andy Troy, and Travis Lanham. This one expands on Valeria, from the Howard novella “Red Nails”, giving her a backstory and quest in finding her brother’s murderer.

| Published by Marvel

Analog #7 somehow manages to up the level of intrigue further as seemingly everyone alive that knows Jack tries to kill him, while Sam and Oona try to get more information on Oppenheimer. Great action scenes with the usual amount of black humour here from Gerry Duggan, David O’Sullivan, Mike Spicer, and Joe Sabino.

| Published by Image

Batman: Universe #2 continues reprinting the previously Walmart-exclusive story by Brian Michael Bendis, Nick Derington, Dave Stewart, and Josh Reed. It’s great. The humour is a wonderful touch amid a bevy of so many dark and grim Batman stories out there right now and the art from Derington and Stewart is amazing.

| Published by DC Comics

Batman & The Outsiders #4 is mostly a tale of preparation as both sides gather themselves and get ready for confrontation. It’s somewhat disturbing as to how easily and quickly Sofia has fallen under Ra’s al Ghul’s influence. Great art from Dexter Soy and Veronica Gandini.

| Published by DC Comics

Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice #2 continues this wonderful crossover from Jeff Lemire, Michael Walsh, and Nate Piekos. There’s something very compelling about a Bruce Wayne who can’t stop being Batman even in a world where there’s seemingly no crime and disturbingly hilarious when Gail flirts with Aquaman.

| Published by Dark Horse & DC Comics

Captain Marvel #9 broadens the mystery in part two of “Falling Star” as Carol tries to track down Dr. Minerva and find out what’s going wrong with her powers. The conspiracy and secrets that Kelly Thompson is seeding into the story are wonderful.

| Published by Marvel

Catwoman #14 begins “Hermosa Heat” from Ram V, Mirka Andolfo, Arif Prianto, and Saida Temofonte. It sets up a heist that pegs Catwoman as a number one target for assassination from a united group of crime families and it’s a great start. Nice use of a number of DC’s villains and gorgeous artwork from Andolfo and Prianto.

| Published by DC Comics

Collapser #2 continues the brilliant madness from Mikey Way, Shaun Simon, Ilias Kyriazis, Cris Peter, and Simon Bowland. This issue tries to explain away Liam’s problems as schizophrenic hallucinations to disastrous results.

| Published by DC Comics / Young Animal

Critical Role: Vox Machina - Origins Series II #2 continues the quest to rescue Grog as Pike joins the party. The artwork from Olivia Samson and Msassyk is gorgeous. Especially the undead action scenes. Jody Houser again captures a lot of the humour and fun of the voice actors’ characters here.

| Published by Dark Horse

Detective Comics #1009 kicks off a pretty interesting predicament for Bruce in this airplane crash tale from Peter J. Tomasi, Christian Duce, Luis Guerrero, and Rob Leigh. It’s good to see Deadshot again and you’ve got to wonder who he was targeting among these businessmen.

| Published by DC Comics

Elephantmen 2261: The Pentalion Job #4 concludes this series in a rather interesting way. Definitely not what you’d expect. Wonderful art from Alex Medellin.

| Published by Comicraft

Event Leviathan #3 spends its time telling us why the Red Hood isn’t Leviathan while expertly evading the assembled detectives. Interesting that he outsmarts Batman and Robin here, let alone the rest of them. You’d think that this rather measured, slow pace of unveiling the mystery and telling the story would possibly be frustrating or boring, but it’s not. It doesn’t feel like a point extended and belaboured in usual decompressed stories, but rather natural elimination of suspects and events. It also helps that Alex Maleev's art is phenomenal and there are some genuinely hilarious zingers from Brian Michael Bendis. 

| Published by DC Comics

Fantastic Four #13 concludes the Hulk vs. Thing fight. The artwork from Sean Izaakse and Marcio Menyz is phenomenal. Beautiful layouts, incredible action, and stunning colour work.

| Published by Marvel

The Flash #76 gives us part one of “The Death of the Speed Force” as it picks up on the previous threads of the new forces and attempts to start putting the family back together. Great art from Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, and Tomeu Morey.

| Published by DC Comics

Ghosted in LA #2 is a bit of a weird one. The banter with the ghosts is wonderful, the art from Siobhan Keenan and Cathy Le is perfect, but how the story deals with a negging asshole is very odd. Especially as Daphne is then later castigated for bringing a guy back home, effectively breaking one of the terms of her staying at the house true, but he was prepared to rape her. It’s just...odd. Seems to be blaming the victim, framing them as her bad decisions in reacting to her ex seeing someone else, rather than anything else.

| Published by Boom Entertainment / BOOM! Box

Gideon Falls #16 takes a huge step with Norton, as he arrives in the farm town reality of Gideon Falls, and is essentially identified as Clara’s missing brother, Danny. It’s a very emotional issue from Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, Dave Stewart, and Steve Wands, even as it gets even more disturbing.

| Published by Image

Gwenpool Strikes Back #1 is the very entertaining, funny debut of this new mini from Leah Williams, David Baldeón, Jesus Aburtov, and Joe Caramagna. It’s basically memes and shitposts as Gwen tries to figure out how to get a superpower in order to stay relevant in the 616. It’s hilarious.

| Published by Marvel

Hawkman #15 continues Carter’s problems with the Shadow Thief as he seeks help from the Shade. I love revisiting anything from James Robinson’s tenure on Starman, so it’s good to see Shade. The art from Pat Olliffe and Tom Palmer is a bit scratchier and looser than usual, but it fits the darker, shadowy aspect of the story.

| Published by DC Comics

Invaders #8 continues “Dead in the Water” from Chip Zdarsky, Carlos Magno, Butch Guice, Alex Guimarães, Dono Sánchez-Almara, and Travis Lanham. This one explicitly lays out what’s wrong with Namor and it’s fairly tragic.

| Published by Marvel

Justice League Odyssey #12 is the culmination of Darkseid’s plans from Dan Abnett, Will Conrad, Rain Beredo, and AndWorld Design. It’s bleak as it sets up Darkseid’s new Apokolis of Sepulkore, drastically changing some characters in the process. I don’t know how or if they’re going to get out of this.

| Published by DC Comics

The Life and Death of Toyo Harada #6 is an interesting “now here’s what really happened” ending for this series from Joshua Dysart, CAFU, Doug Braithwaite, Andrew Dalhouse, Diego Rodriguez, and Dave Sharpe. It’s interesting to see how Harada survived and his mindscape confrontation with the kinds of creatures that currently possess Angela.

| Published by Valiant

Loki #2 is even better than the first issue, building out a very interesting quandary as Loki tries to figure out who he is now beyond ruler of Jotunheim and “Thor’s brother”, as he contemplates a status as “god of nothing”. Daniel Kibblesmith, Oscar Bazaldua, David Curiel, and Clayton Cowles lead us on a rather humorous journey with a very interesting cliffhanger. 

| Published by Marvel

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #9 may be the strongest issue to date, which is saying a bit since this series has been solid since day one, as Miles’ dad and uncle stage a plan to rescue him. Saladin Ahmed, Javier Garrón, David Curiel, and Cory Petit deliver an emotionally rewarding tale, with some very impressive layouts and action, particularly as the rescue kicks off.

| Published by Marvel

Oblivion Song #18 continues the confrontation with the Faceless Men. It’s less than positive. It’s interesting how this has gone south faster than expected, developing the previously unseen rivals on Oblivion fairly quickly and in rather surprising ways. Robert Kirkman, Lorenzo De Felici, Annalisa Leoni, and Rus Wooton continue to regularly upend the status quo with each issue.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Once & Future #1 is a thoroughly excellent debut from Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain, and Ed Dukeshire, blending offbeat characters, humour, and British folklore.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Outer Darkness #9 is another highly entertaining issue as the crew comes across a science station whose staff have been driven to murder one another. I’m still loving how John Layman, Afu Chan, and Pat Brosseau are playing with mixing different conventions of horror, sci-fi, and episodic storytelling to build this narrative.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Punisher Kill Krew #1 is another spin-off from War of the Realms, cleaning up loose ends from Malekith’s forces’ spree on Earth from Gerry Duggan, Juan Ferreyra, and Cory Petit. It’s bizarre and hilarious to see Frank Castle continuing on against monsters, but very entertaining. Also, Ferreyra’s art is gorgeous.

| Published by Marvel

Punk Mambo #5 concludes this series with a confrontation between Punk Mambo and Azaire. The artwork from Adam Gorham and José Villarrubia is gorgeous, with very impressive attention to the different loa.

| Published by Valiant

Reaver #2 expands upon the party, allowing them to bond a bit and develop the characters a bit more. Some things definitely don’t seem to be as they seem. More low magic fantasy fun from Justin Jordan, Rebekah Isaacs, Alex Guimarães, and Clayton Cowles.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Red Sonja #7 continues on from the shift in the Lord of Fools one-shot, with Bob Q providing line art, as Sonja tries to outthink and outmanoeuvre Dragan’s forces. It’s interesting to see the tactics involved here, especially as Dragan seems to be losing more and more sanity.

| Published by Dynamite

Road of Bones #4 is the disturbing end to what has been a brutal horror story from Rich Douek, Alex Cormack, and Justin Birch. It definitely makes you think about how far someone will go for survival and possibly even what lies they tell themselves in order to carry on.

| Published by IDW

Rumble #15 concludes the “Last Knight” arc in a very interesting way. Interesting bits about sacrifice and family, even as the void begins consuming all. Gorgeous artwork from David Rubín and Dave Stewart.

| Published by Image

Second Coming #2 continues to be an interesting mix of dark humour and social commentary as Sunstar continues to go horribly, horribly awry in try to teach Jesus how to be a superhero. Mark Russell, Richard Pace, Leonard Kirk, Andy Troy, and Rob Steen are telling a very interesting story here.

| Published by Ahoy

She Could Fly: The Lost Pilot #5 brings this second story to an end as Luna finds out what actually happened to the pilot. It’s actually surprisingly normal given all of the oddity that has taken place in these series. Great work from Christopher Cantwell, Martín Morazzo, Miroslav Mrva, and Clem Robins.

| Published by Dark Horse / Berger Books

Silver Surfer: Black #3 gets a little bit trippier as Silver Surfer tries to help Ego with a little infection problem. The art from Tradd Moore and Dave Stewart is gorgeous.

| Published by Marvel

Sonata #3 reveals more of the planet’s secrets and the peoples’ various mythologies about it. It’s interesting to see two different groups of people lay claim to an individual place and incorporate it into their religion in a sci-fi/fantasy story. It’s somewhat similar to how divergent faiths lay claim to Jerusalem. Beautiful artwork from Brian Haberlin and Geirrod Van Dyke.

| Published by Image / Shadowline

Usagi Yojimbo #3 concludes the first arc published by IDW, “Bunraku”, and it’s damn good. It’s taken me a bit to get used to the series in colour, though Tom Luth is doing a great job, but the story and art from Stan Sakai have remained fantastic regardless.

| Published by IDW

The White Trees #1 is a very haunting, moody fantasy tale from Chip Zdarsky, Kris Anka, Matt Wilson, and Aditya Bidikar. The artwork is astoundingly beautiful as three parents, legends from a past war that seemingly fractured their friendship, search for their kidnapped children.

| Published by Image

Wonder Woman #76 sees a fair amount of reunions as Themyscira and Earth are bridged again allowing for passage. Very nice art from Lee Garbett and Romulo Fajardo Jr. Also, one killer of an ending.

| Published by DC Comics

Other Highlights: Amazing Spider-Man #27, Conan the Barbarian: Exodus #1, Doctor Strange #17, Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #11, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #10, Go Go Power Rangers #22, Gogor #4, Hit-Girl: Season 2 #7, House of Whispers #12, Infinity 8 #14, Immortal Hulk: Director’s Cut #1, Ironheart #9, James Bond: Origin #12, Joe Golem: Occult Detective - The Conjurors #4, Orphan Age #5, Powers of X #2, Sharkey: The Bounty Hunter #5, Silver Surfer: Prodigal Sun #1, Star Trek: Year Five #4, Star Wars: Target Vader #2, Star Wars Adventures Annual 2019, Sword Master #2, Symbiote Spider-Man #5, Titans: Burning Rage #1, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #47, Unearth #2, Unnatural #12, The Warning #10, Xena: Warrior Princess #5

Recommended Collections: Amazing Spider-Man: Hunted, Archie by Nick Spencer - Volume 1, Asgardians of the Galaxy - Volume 2: War of the Realms, Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark - Volume 1, Guardians of the Galaxy - Volume 1: The Final Gauntlet, Lightstep, Mr. & Mrs. X - Volume 2: Gambit and Rogue Forever, Ninja-K Deluxe Edition, Sideways - Volume 2: Rifts & Revelations, Sparrowhawk, TMNT: Urban Legends - Volume 2, Vampirella vs. Reanimator, War of the Realms, Xena - Volume 2: Mind Games

d. emerson eddy might be a vampire hunter.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1255

Monday, March 25, 2019

 Saw my first robin while out for a walk yesterday. Some juncos and a young male goldfinch came to our feeders too. Wintery weather is still hanging on though. It snowed and there's a skiff of the white stuff on the ground this morning. It's not going to get above freezing today unfortunately. We tried to buy a bag of sand to help with traction on our frozen icy driveway but couldn't find one for love nor money. At our age the fear of falling and breaking a hip is very real.

 Spider-Man Life Story #1 The 60's - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Mark Bagley (pencils) John Dell (inks) Frank D'Armata (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). Back when the House of Ideas had neat ideas they put out a comic book called "What If?" that took their famous super heroes and changed major stories around to see what would have happened. This new Spider-Man book feels a lot like that, rather than telling stories filling in gaps from old issues. It's 1966 and Peter and Gwen are not a couple yet. Flash Thompson is going off to fight in the war in Viet Nam. Chip wasn't even born yet but he captured the sentiments at the time and Mark got the looks right. Peter meets an arch enemy face to face for the first time and secrets are revealed. What makes this feel like a "What If?" is another possible secret coming out that surprised me. If you're a true blue and red Spider-Man fan like me I think you'll like this.

 Invisible Kingdom #1 - G. Willow Wilson (writer) Christian Ward (art) Sal Cipriano (letters). I picked this off the rack because I liked what G. Willow Wilson did when she was writing Ms. Marvel. Here she presents a sci-fi story about religion and big business with two very different female leads. The art is beautiful and coolly futuristic and the convent scenes reminded me of Moebius. This is what it might be like if Amazon and the Catholic church controlled the world in real life. Do the creators of this comic book know something that we don't?

 High Level #1- Rob Sheridan (writer) Barnaby Bagenda (pencils) Romulo Fajardo Jr. (colours) Nate Piekos (letters). Here's another new sci-fi comic book that I snagged to read because I liked the art. The story about a young girl who could save the world from war is okay but the telling of it wasn't done very well. It's not good that I got majorly confused twice and had to flip back pages to see if I missed something. The first time was the artist's fault. One panel shows a character with hair covering the right side of her head and three panels later that side of her head is bald. The door panel of the vehicles she's driving didn't match so I thought it was two different women. Then I got sidetracked again when the little girl talks about someone named Ezra helping them on page 19. I'm thinking who the heck is Ezra? Turns out it's a robot that first shows up on page 7. Why didn't they name the robot then? I found these things so annoyed me that I didn't want to continue reading. I didn't care enough about little Minnow or her protector Thirteen.

 Spider-Man City at War #1 - Dennis "Hopeless" Hallum (writer) Michele Bandini (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). How could I not grab this to read with its gorgeous cover by Clayton Crain? Welcome to the Gamerverse version of Spider-Man where it's eight years after Peter first dons the costume. In this universe Otto Octavius isn't Doc Ock yet and Peter is his research assistant. Otto even helps Peter design a spiffy new costume. Peter fights the Kingpin who is not the mayor of New York City and I have to say that if the animators had modelled their Kingpin after this version I would have enjoyed Into the Spiderverse a whole lot more. Mary Jane knows Peter's secret and she's a reporter working for the Daily Bugle. Mister Negative is another major villain in this story and he's the one that will be featured in the next issue. I'm not a video gamer so this alternate version of Spider-Man doesn't mean a lot to me so this new book is not for me.

 Naomi #3 - Brian Michael Bendis & David F. Walker (writers) Jamal Campbell (art) Wes Abbott (letters). There are so many great twists as the mystery of Naomi's origin is slowly being revealed. I loved the dad bod on the last page. I'm guessing she's from Rann going by the costume her father is wearing.

 West Coast Avengers #9 - Kelly Thompson (writer) Gang Hyuk Lim (art) Triona Farrell (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Dang, I missed the last issue so I don't know how most of the team was captured by a vampire cult. This rescue issue was tons of fun and there's a major change to one of the characters. The last page cliffhanger means that I won't want to miss reading the next issue.

 Miles Morales: Spider-Man #4 - Saladin Ahmed (writer) Javier Garron (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). I love what they're doing artistically with this book. The double page spread showing how Miles and his friends get back to school was cool and super cute to boot. This is a great one issue story about Miles playing hooky if you want to see how good this comic book is.

 Meet the Skrulls #2 - Robbie Thompson (writer) Niko Henrichon (art) Laurent Grossat (colour assistant) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). This issue shows a little origin story for this Skrull family and more of them achieving their mission. That is until the Skrull killer shows up. I need to find out who is going to die next issue.

 Avengers LGY #713: No Road Home #6 - Jim Zub, Mark Waid & Al Ewing (writers) Sean Izaakse (art) Jay David Ramos with Marcio Menyz (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Can you believe a team-up with Conan and the Scarlet Witch? Believe it True Believer. Wanda and the brawny barbarian wander the desert in search of one of the Shards of Night. Their journey leads them to Shadizar where priests use the shard to summon their dark god. They don't worship Nyx but that's who shows up. Meanwhile, the Hulk has a shard as well and it's quite a surprise what he does with it.

 Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #4 - Tom Taylor (writer) Juann Cabal (art) Nolan Woodard (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). Mother of Exiles part 4. The evil overlord of the underground city invades New York to retrieve his heir. You won't believe who saves Manhattan. This was a great first story and the next one looks like another doozy. This is my favourite Spider-Man title right now not just because of the beautiful art but because Tom King knows how to write Peter Parker and Spider-Man to make him fun and serious too.

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 28 January 2019

Quick Bits:

Amazing Spider-Man #14 begins “Family Matters” as Chris Bachalo and his army of inkers (Al Vey, Wayne Faucher, John Livesay, and Tim Townsend) join Nick Spencer and Joe Caramagna. The art is gorgeous, with some interesting layouts and beautiful washes for flashbacks, as we get a bit of an advancement on the simmering Kraven plot.

| Published by Marvel

Batgirl #31 complicates matters further in the Alejo and Moore election campaigns as Babs tries to work out who Cormorant is, who he’s working for, and what’s happening. The politicking and mystery of Mairghread Scott’s script is very compelling.

| Published by DC Comics

Captain America #7 begins the next stage of this epic, with the first part of “Captain of Nothing” from Ta-Nehisi Coates, Adam Kubert, Frank Martin, and Joe Caramagna. This one’s fairly meaty as the conspiracy to eliminate Cap from the board continues to come down around him as he deals with the consequences of being framed for the murder of General Ross. I’m very impressed with Adam Kubert’s art here, between this and his work on Soldier Supreme, he seems to have levelled up his already wonderful art again. Some very inventive layouts and panel staging, while also employing excellent use of 9-panel grids, that make this a treat.

| Published by Marvel

Crimson Lotus #3 continues to be an entertaining mix between the paranormal and a spy thriller from John Arcudi, Mindy Lee, Michelle Madsen, and Clem Robins. It’s also quite funny to see Agent Dai’s reaction to the supernatural.

| Published by Dark Horse

Cyber Force #8 hits round two against Leviathan while Dominique comes to terms with her new status quo. Matt Hawkins and Bryan Hill attempt to show us more complications of the new cyber order, beautifully brought to life by Atilio Rojo.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Detective Comics #997 pits Batman and a strangely alive Thaddeus Brown against sharks, piranhas, drowning, and that shape-shifting beast that has been dogging everyone since “Mythology” started. This is like a demented memory lane from Peter Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy, Mark Irwin, David Baron, and Rob Leigh.

| Published by DC Comics

Doctor Strange #10 offers up the beginning to a new wrinkle in a story that has been building since the first issue from Mark Waid, Jesús Saiz, and Cory Petit in the lead to this extra-sized anniversary issue. This magic accountancy office reminds me a bit of the revelation of the Time Variance Authority. There are also three back-up stories and an art piece to round out the issue.

| Published by Marvel

Fight Club 3 #1 is visually stunning. Like with Fight Club 2, Cameron Stewart is pushing himself to create some of the most inventive, complex, and unique art of his career. Breaking planes, panel structure, and framing within the panels themselves continue to create a blurred reality mirroring the fractured nature of the story itself. It’s good, as Chuck Palahniuk, Stewart, Dave McCaig, and Nate Piekos continue to challenge readers.

| Published by Dark Horse

The Flash #63 concludes the “Force Quest” arc with a confrontation with Gemini and a revelation about the Forces. It kind of echoes the darkness and depression that’s been creeping back into the DC Universe in recent months. Great art from Minkyu Jung and Hi-Fi.

| Published by DC Comics

The Flash Annual #2 brings the tragedy of Heroes in Crisis into the Flash’s world, following on his learning of Wally’s death in Flash #63, from Joshua Williamson, Scott Kolins, Luis Guerrero, and Wes Abbott. It’s interesting to see all of the current speedsters, but this also raises some questions about Impulse, who seems to be the pre-New 52 incarnation confused about what’s happened (and feeding in to Young Justice, raising even more questions about that as well).

| Published by DC Comics

Ice Cream Man #9 begins “Hopscotch Mélange” and does something different. Since the beginning, this series has been an odd mix of different horror and surrealist pieces ostensibly tied together by the presence of the titular “Ice Cream Man”. This issue presents a “time before” beginning to explain the story of the Ice Cream Man and the cowboy who follows him in what feels like a mash-up of Grant Morrison and Stephen King. It’s good. Weird as hell, but good. W. Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo, Chris O’Halloran, and Good Old Neon continue to work wonders with this story. 

| Published by Image

Infinite Dark #4 brings the first arc to an end with a revelation as to what the entity is (or at least claims to be) as the crew tries to find a solution to absolute destruction from Ryan Cady, Andrea Mutti, K. Michael Russell, and Troy Peteri. This is a wonderful blend of horror and sci-fi with some great character moments.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

James Bond 007 #3 continues the action as Bond and Lee fight over who gets the Russian smuggler. Marc Laming and Roshan Kurichiyanil are doing an incredible job with the artwork.

| Published by Dynamite

Journey into Unknown Worlds #1 is another of the 80th anniversary one-shots, this one offering a pair of horror out of space stories; one from Cullen Bunn and Guillermo Sanna, the other from Clay McLeod Chapman and Francesco Manna, both anchored by Lee Loughridge and Travis Lanham. They’re good. Very classic body horror approach.

| Published by Marvel

Justice League Annual #1 is a major turning point in the series as Starman, the Justice League, and the major cosmic players attempt to fix the Source Wall in this tale from Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Daniel Sampere, Juan Albarran, Adriano Lucas, and Tom Napolitano. It’s epic and definitely not to be missed in regards to what’s coming next for DC’s multiverse.

| Published by DC Comics

Justice League Odyssey #5 pulls back the curtain and gives us an insight into Darkseid’s plan and the purpose of the Ghost Sector. It’s nice to see some guiding force here amongst the chaos of the first four issues. Beautiful artwork from Carmine Di Giandomenico and Ivan Plascencia. Plascencia’s colours are particularly impressive with the starscapes.

| Published by DC Comics

KINO #13 drops a few more bombs on the narrative as it twists what’s going on even further into a delicious, mind-bending pretzel. Also a return to the old school superhero-inspired style within a virtual reality space. Alex Paknadel, Diego Galindo, Adam Guzowski, and Jim Campbell are turning in some incredible work here. Highly recommended.

| Published by Lion Forge / Catalyst Prime

Man Without Fear #5 concludes this mini with Matt continuing to be haunted by his fear as Danilo S. Beyruth returns to close out the art chores. Jed MacKay’s use of narration throughout the series has been well done, but I think this one ups the ante as Matt’s fear and the memory of his father fight to shine through.

| Published by Marvel

Marvel Knights #6 gives us an end from Donny Cates, Kim Jacinto, Travel Foreman, Richard Friend, Matt Milla, and Cory Petit that delivers on action and hints at a future nightmare that the combined heroes were trying to prevent.

| Published by Marvel

Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #1 is a sequel to Watchmen. Kind of. Kieron Gillen, Caspar Wijngaard, Mary Safro, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou pick up on the squid ending, here re-envisioned as a spidery alien invasion and run with it from there. Where Peter Cannon is restored, many of the Charlton heroes are reimagined again, and Rorschach/The Question is interestingly replaced with an analogue to another Steve Ditko creation, The Creeper. It’s both entertaining and fairly meta. Gorgeous artwork from Wijngaard and Safro, even playing with the variations on the 9-panel grid structure famously used in Watchmen itself.

| Published by Dynamite

Rick & Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons #4 brings this fun crossover adventure from Patrick Rothfuss, Jim Zub, Troy Little, Leonardo Ito, and Robbie Robbins to an end. This has been a great series, tapping into both properties extremely well and telling an entertaining story that does both Rick & Morty and D&D justice.

| Published by IDW & Oni Press

The Silencer #13 gives us the origin of Honor and her training through the League of Assassins as a child and being picked early by Talia al Ghul to be her personal assistant/bodyguard by Dan Abnett, V. Ken Marion, Sandu Florea, Mike Spicer, and Tom Napolitano. It’s interesting how it fills in the backstory, while giving a twist for what’s potentially coming in a future with this past erased.

| Published by DC Comics

Sparrowhawk #4 builds Artemisia and her motley pair of fairy compatriots up towards a conclusion in this penultimate issue from Delilah S. Dawson, Matias Basla, Rebecca Nalty, and Jim Campbell. There’s some very interesting character work as Artemisia continues to change and lose more and more of her humanity as she tries to get back home.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Star Trek: The Q Conflict #1 begins with stars unexpectedly going nova across the Beta Quadrant, leading to Picard and the Enterprise-E investigating. Scott Tipton, David Tipton, David Messina, Elisabetta D’Amico, Alexandra Alexakis, and Neil Uyetake capture the tone and appearance of The Next Generation perfectly and it gets more interesting as the conflict develops.

| Published by IDW

Star Trek - The Next Generation IDW 20/20 #1 takes us back 20 years to Picard’s first command aboard the Stargazer from Peter David, JK Woodward, and Gilberto Lazcano. Beautiful artwork from Woodward, very nicely capturing the likenesses.

| Published by IDW

West Coast Avengers #7 introduces Jeff, the land shark puppy, and he’s adorable. Kelly Thompson, Daniele Di Nicuolo, Tríona Farrell, and Joe Caramagna also pack this confrontation with Madame Masque and her new West Coast Masters of Evil with humour and action, but, seriously, you’re buying this for the shark puppy. Everybody needs a shark puppy.

| Published by Marvel

Wonder Woman #63 is a fairly humorous take on the trio of displaced mythological beasts as they try to adapt to America from G. Willow Wilson, Emanuela Lupacchino, Ray McCarthy, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Pat Brosseau. A lot of Wilson’s run so far has reminded me of Greg Rucka’s first run and that’s reinforced here with a return of one of his (and Drew Johnson’s) creations.

| Published by DC Comics

Wyrd #1 is a solid debut from Curt Pires, Antonio Fuso, Stefano Simeone, and Micah Myers playing in the Warren Ellis-end of the comics sandbox with a seemingly invulnerable, tough-as-nails investigator/operative into the weird. The art from Fuso and Simeone perfectly conveys a world where something feels like it’s seriously gone wrong.

| Published by Dark Horse

Other Highlights: Action Comics #1007, Animosity: Evolution #10, Betty & Veronica #2, Bone Parish #6, Books of Magic #4, Call of Duty: Zombie 2 #4, Daughters of the Dragon #3, Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Terror #4, Elvira: The Shape of Elvira #1, Hex Wives #4, Invader Zim #39, Iron: Or the War After, Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: Coronation #10, The Lone Ranger #4, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #35, Ms. Marvel #37, Mysteries of Love in Space #1, Night Moves #3, Old Lady Harley #4, The Punisher #7, Quantum Age #6, Redlands #10, Rick & Morty #46, Robots vs. Princesses #4, Solo: A Star Wars Story #4, Spawn #293, Spider-Man/Deadpool #45, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #28, Star Wars Adventures #17, Teen Titans Annual #1, TMNT: Urban Legends #9, The Unstoppable Wasp #4, Vampirella: Roses for the Dead #3, Volition #4, Witchblade #11

Recommended Collections: Bad Machinery - Volume 7: The Case of the Forked Road, The Collected Toppi - Volume 1: The Enchanted World, Deep Roots - Volume 1, DuckTales - Volume 4: Fowl Play, Ghostbusters: Crossing Over, Her Infernal Descent - Volume 1, Pathfinder: Spiral of Bones, Shanghai Red, Submerged - Volume 1, Star Wars: Darth Vader - Volume 4: Fortress Vader, Sword of Ages - Book One: Avalon, Transformers: Lost Light - Volume 4

d. emerson eddy keeps on slipping into the future.